Clintons take off Sopranos

United States:Hillary and Bill Clinton play the Sopranos in an extraordinary campaign video that mimics the final moments of the television series, which ended in the US this month.

As the current head of the Clinton family, Hillary takes on the role of Tony, while Bill plays his long-suffering but complicit wife, Carmela.

The video is used to announce that Céline Dion's You and Ihas been selected as the official campaign song.

Set in a diner in upstate New York, it opens with Hillary flicking through a jukebox, as Tony Soprano did in the tense final scene of the TV series. In the background, as Bill arrives and joins Hillary at the table, as in The Sopranos, Journey's Don't Stop Believin'is playing.

At one point, actor Vince Curatola, who played mob boss Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni in the series, walks menacingly by the Clintons' table. Outside, Chelsea is trying to parallel park, as Soprano daughter Meadow did in the series.

"How's the campaign going?" Bill asks. "Well, like you always say, focus on the good times," Hillary replies, echoing one of Tony's favourite lines.

Although most pundits hailed the video as an injection of humour into the campaign, not everyone was impressed. New York Timescolumnist Maureen Dowd suggested the comparison between the Clintons and the Sopranos might be a little too close for comfort, especially on family values.

"The Clintons' don't-ask-don't-tell policy seems so similar to that of the Sopranos, that it could be a bit risky to play the mob couple, even for a gag," she wrote.